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FIND(1) FreeBSD General Commands Manual FIND(1)
NAMEfind -- walk a file hierarchy
SYNOPSISfind [-H | -L | -P] [-EXdsx] [-fpath] path... [expression]
find [-H | -L | -P] [-EXdsx] -fpath [path...] [expression]
DESCRIPTION
The find utility recursively descends the directory tree for each path
listed, evaluating an expression (composed of the ``primaries'' and
``operands'' listed below) in terms of each file in the tree.
The options are as follows:
-E Interpret regular expressions followed by -regex and -iregex pri-
maries as extended (modern) regular expressions rather than basic
regular expressions (BRE's). The re_format(7) manual page fully
describes both formats.
-H Cause the file information and file type (see stat(2)) returned
for each symbolic link specified on the command line to be those
of the file referenced by the link, not the link itself. If the
referenced file does not exist, the file information and type
will be for the link itself. File information of all symbolic
links not on the command line is that of the link itself.
-L Cause the file information and file type (see stat(2)) returned
for each symbolic link to be those of the file referenced by the
link, not the link itself. If the referenced file does not
exist, the file information and type will be for the link itself.
This option is equivalent to the deprecated -follow primary.
-P Cause the file information and file type (see stat(2)) returned
for each symbolic link to be those of the link itself. This is
the default.
-X Permit find to be safely used in conjunction with xargs(1). If a
file name contains any of the delimiting characters used by
xargs(1), a diagnostic message is displayed on standard error,
and the file is skipped. The delimiting characters include sin-
gle (`` ' '') and double (`` " '') quotes, backslash (``\''),
space, tab and newline characters.
However, you may wish to consider the -print0 primary in conjunc-
tion with ``xargs-0'' as an effective alternative.
-d Cause find to perform a depth-first traversal.
This option is a BSD-specific equivalent of the -depth primary
specified by IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1''). Refer to its
description under PRIMARIES for more information.
-s Cause find to traverse the file hierarchies in lexicographical
order, i.e., alphabetical order within each directory. Note:
`find -s' and `find | sort' may give different results.
-x Prevent find from descending into directories that have a device
number different than that of the file from which the descent
began.
This option is equivalent to the deprecated -xdev primary.
PRIMARIES
All primaries which take a numeric argument allow the number to be pre-
ceded by a plus sign (``+'') or a minus sign (``-''). A preceding plus
sign means ``more than n'', a preceding minus sign means ``less than n''
and neither means ``exactly n''.
-Bminn
True if the difference between the time of a file's inode cre-
ation and the time find was started, rounded up to the next full
minute, is n minutes.
-Bnewerfile
Same as -newerBm.
-Btimen[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the time of a file's inode creation and the
time find was started, rounded up to the next full 24-hour
period, is n 24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the time of a file's inode creation and the
time find was started is exactly n units. Please refer to the
-atime primary description for information on supported time
units.
-acl May be used in conjunction with other primaries to locate files
with extended ACLs. See acl(3) for more information.
-amin [-|+]n
True if the difference between the file last access time and the
time find was started, rounded up to the next full minute, is
more than n (+n), less than n (-n), or exactly n minutes ago.
-anewerfile
Same as -neweram.
-atimen[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the file last access time and the time find
was started, rounded up to the next full 24-hour period, is n
24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the file last access time and the time find
was started is exactly n units. Possible time units are as fol-
lows:
s second
m minute (60 seconds)
h hour (60 minutes)
d day (24 hours)
w week (7 days)
Any number of units may be combined in one -atime argument, for
example, ``-atime -1h30m''. Units are probably only useful when
used in conjunction with the + or - modifier.
-cmin [-|+]n
True if the difference between the time of last change of file
status information and the time find was started, rounded up to
the next full minute, is more than n (+n), less than n (-n), or
exactly n minutes ago.
-cnewerfile
Same as -newercm.
-ctimen[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the time of last change of file status infor-
mation and the time find was started, rounded up to the next full
24-hour period, is n 24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the time of last change of file status infor-
mation and the time find was started is exactly n units. Please
refer to the -atime primary description for information on sup-
ported time units.
-d Non-portable, BSD-specific version of depth. GNU find implements
this as a primary in mistaken emulation of FreeBSD find.
-delete
Delete found files and/or directories. Always returns true.
This executes from the current working directory as find recurses
down the tree. It will not attempt to delete a filename with a
``/'' character in its pathname relative to ``.'' for security
reasons. Depth-first traversal processing is implied by this
option. The -delete primary will fail to delete a directory if
it is not empty. Following symlinks is incompatible with this
option.
-depth Always true; same as the non-portable -d option. Cause find to
perform a depth-first traversal, i.e., directories are visited in
post-order and all entries in a directory will be acted on before
the directory itself. By default, find visits directories in
pre-order, i.e., before their contents. Note, the default is not
a breadth-first traversal.
The -depth primary can be useful when find is used with cpio(1)
to process files that are contained in directories with unusual
permissions. It ensures that you have write permission while you
are placing files in a directory, then sets the directory's per-
missions as the last thing.
-depthn
True if the depth of the file relative to the starting point of
the traversal is n.
-empty True if the current file or directory is empty.
-executility [argument...] ;
True if the program named utility returns a zero value as its
exit status. Optional arguments may be passed to the utility.
The expression must be terminated by a semicolon (``;''). If you
invoke find from a shell you may need to quote the semicolon if
the shell would otherwise treat it as a control operator. If the
string ``{}'' appears anywhere in the utility name or the argu-
ments it is replaced by the pathname of the current file.
Utility will be executed from the directory from which find was
executed. Utility and arguments are not subject to the further
expansion of shell patterns and constructs.
-executility [argument...] {} +
Same as -exec, except that ``{}'' is replaced with as many path-
names as possible for each invocation of utility. This behaviour
is similar to that of xargs(1). The primary always returns true;
if at least one invocation of utility returns a non-zero exit
status, find will return a non-zero exit status.
-execdirutility [argument...] ;
The -execdir primary is identical to the -exec primary with the
exception that utility will be executed from the directory that
holds the current file. The filename substituted for the string
``{}'' is not qualified.
-execdirutility [argument...] {} +
Same as -execdir, except that ``{}'' is replaced with as many
pathnames as possible for each invocation of utility. This be-
haviour is similar to that of xargs(1). The primary always
returns true; if at least one invocation of utility returns a
non-zero exit status, find will return a non-zero exit status.
-flags [-|+]flags,notflags
The flags are specified using symbolic names (see chflags(1)).
Those with the "no" prefix (except "nodump") are said to be
notflags. Flags in flags are checked to be set, and flags in
notflags are checked to be not set. Note that this is different
from -perm, which only allows the user to specify mode bits that
are set.
If flags are preceded by a dash (``-''), this primary evaluates
to true if at least all of the bits in flags and none of the bits
in notflags are set in the file's flags bits. If flags are pre-
ceded by a plus (``+''), this primary evaluates to true if any of
the bits in flags is set in the file's flags bits, or any of the
bits in notflags is not set in the file's flags bits. Otherwise,
this primary evaluates to true if the bits in flags exactly match
the file's flags bits, and none of the flags bits match those of
notflags.
-fstypetype
True if the file is contained in a file system of type type. The
lsvfs(1) command can be used to find out the types of file sys-
tems that are available on the system. In addition, there are
two pseudo-types, ``local'' and ``rdonly''. The former matches
any file system physically mounted on the system where the find
is being executed and the latter matches any file system which is
mounted read-only.
-gidgname
The same thing as -groupgname for compatibility with GNU find.
GNU find imposes a restriction that gname is numeric, while find
does not.
-groupgname
True if the file belongs to the group gname. If gname is numeric
and there is no such group name, then gname is treated as a group
ID.
-ignore_readdir_race
Ignore errors because a file or a directory is deleted after
reading the name from a directory. This option does not affect
errors occurring on starting points.
-ilnamepattern
Like -lname, but the match is case insensitive. This is a GNU
find extension.
-inamepattern
Like -name, but the match is case insensitive.
-inumn
True if the file has inode number n.
-ipathpattern
Like -path, but the match is case insensitive.
-iregexpattern
Like -regex, but the match is case insensitive.
-iwholenamepattern
The same thing as -ipath, for GNU find compatibility.
-linksn
True if the file has n links.
-lnamepattern
Like -name, but the contents of the symbolic link are matched
instead of the file name. Note that this only matches broken
symbolic links if symbolic links are being followed. This is a
GNU find extension.
-ls This primary always evaluates to true. The following information
for the current file is written to standard output: its inode
number, size in 512-byte blocks, file permissions, number of hard
links, owner, group, size in bytes, last modification time, and
pathname. If the file is a block or character special file, the
device number will be displayed instead of the size in bytes. If
the file is a symbolic link, the pathname of the linked-to file
will be displayed preceded by ``->''. The format is identical to
that produced by ``ls-dgils''.
-maxdepthn
Always true; descend at most n directory levels below the command
line arguments. If any -maxdepth primary is specified, it
applies to the entire expression even if it would not normally be
evaluated. ``-maxdepth 0'' limits the whole search to the com-
mand line arguments.
-mindepthn
Always true; do not apply any tests or actions at levels less
than n. If any -mindepth primary is specified, it applies to the
entire expression even if it would not normally be evaluated.
``-mindepth 1'' processes all but the command line arguments.
-mmin [-|+]n
True if the difference between the file last modification time
and the time find was started, rounded up to the next full
minute, is more than n (+n), less than n (-n), or exactly n min-
utes ago.
-mnewerfile
Same as -newer.
-mount The same thing as -xdev, for GNU find compatibility.
-mtimen[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the file last modification time and the time
find was started, rounded up to the next full 24-hour period, is
n 24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the file last modification time and the time
find was started is exactly n units. Please refer to the -atime
primary description for information on supported time units.
-namepattern
True if the last component of the pathname being examined matches
pattern. Special shell pattern matching characters (``['',
``]'', ``*'', and ``?'') may be used as part of pattern. These
characters may be matched explicitly by escaping them with a
backslash (``\'').
-newerfile
True if the current file has a more recent last modification time
than file.
-newerXYfile
True if the current file has a more recent last access time
(X=a), inode creation time (X=B), change time (X=c), or modifica-
tion time (X=m) than the last access time (Y=a), inode creation
time (Y=B), change time (Y=c), or modification time (Y=m) of
file. In addition, if Y=t, then file is instead interpreted as a
direct date specification of the form understood by cvs(1). Note
that -newermm is equivalent to -newer.
-nogroup
True if the file belongs to an unknown group.
-noignore_readdir_race
Turn off the effect of -ignore_readdir_race. This is default be-
haviour.
-noleaf
This option is for GNU find compatibility. In GNU find it dis-
ables an optimization not relevant to find, so it is ignored.
-nouser
True if the file belongs to an unknown user.
-okutility [argument...] ;
The -ok primary is identical to the -exec primary with the excep-
tion that find requests user affirmation for the execution of the
utility by printing a message to the terminal and reading a
response. If the response is not affirmative (`y' in the
``POSIX'' locale), the command is not executed and the value of
the -ok expression is false.
-okdirutility [argument...] ;
The -okdir primary is identical to the -execdir primary with the
same exception as described for the -ok primary.
-pathpattern
True if the pathname being examined matches pattern. Special
shell pattern matching characters (``['', ``]'', ``*'', and
``?'') may be used as part of pattern. These characters may be
matched explicitly by escaping them with a backslash (``\'').
Slashes (``/'') are treated as normal characters and do not have
to be matched explicitly.
-perm [-|+]mode
The mode may be either symbolic (see chmod(1)) or an octal num-
ber. If the mode is symbolic, a starting value of zero is
assumed and the mode sets or clears permissions without regard to
the process' file mode creation mask. If the mode is octal, only
bits 07777 (S_ISUID | S_ISGID | S_ISTXT | S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG |
S_IRWXO) of the file's mode bits participate in the comparison.
If the mode is preceded by a dash (``-''), this primary evaluates
to true if at least all of the bits in the mode are set in the
file's mode bits. If the mode is preceded by a plus (``+''),
this primary evaluates to true if any of the bits in the mode are
set in the file's mode bits. Otherwise, this primary evaluates
to true if the bits in the mode exactly match the file's mode
bits. Note, the first character of a symbolic mode may not be a
dash (``-'').
-print This primary always evaluates to true. It prints the pathname of
the current file to standard output. If none of -exec, -ls,
-print0, or -ok is specified, the given expression shall be
effectively replaced by (givenexpression)-print.
-print0
This primary always evaluates to true. It prints the pathname of
the current file to standard output, followed by an ASCII NUL
character (character code 0).
-prune This primary always evaluates to true. It causes find to not
descend into the current file. Note, the -prune primary has no
effect if the -d option was specified.
-quit Causes find to terminate immediately.
-regexpattern
True if the whole path of the file matches pattern using regular
expression. To match a file named ``./foo/xyzzy'', you can use
the regular expression ``.*/[xyz]*'' or ``.*/foo/.*'', but not
``xyzzy'' or ``/foo/''.
-samefilename
True if the file is a hard link to name. If the command option
-L is specified, it is also true if the file is a symbolic link
and points to name.
-sizen[ckMGTP]
True if the file's size, rounded up, in 512-byte blocks is n. If
n is followed by a c, then the primary is true if the file's size
is n bytes (characters). Similarly if n is followed by a scale
indicator then the file's size is compared to n scaled as:
k kilobytes (1024 bytes)
M megabytes (1024 kilobytes)
G gigabytes (1024 megabytes)
T terabytes (1024 gigabytes)
P petabytes (1024 terabytes)
-sparse
True if the current file is sparse, i.e. has fewer blocks allo-
cated than expected based on its size in bytes. This might also
match files that have been compressed by the filesystem.
-typet
True if the file is of the specified type. Possible file types
are as follows:
b block special
c character special
d directory
f regular file
l symbolic link
p FIFO
s socket
-uiduname
The same thing as -useruname for compatibility with GNU find.
GNU find imposes a restriction that uname is numeric, while find
does not.
-useruname
True if the file belongs to the user uname. If uname is numeric
and there is no such user name, then uname is treated as a user
ID.
-wholenamepattern
The same thing as -path, for GNU find compatibility.
OPERATORS
The primaries may be combined using the following operators. The opera-
tors are listed in order of decreasing precedence.
(expression)
This evaluates to true if the parenthesized expression evaluates
to true.
!expression-notexpression
This is the unary NOT operator. It evaluates to true if the
expression is false.
-false Always false.
-true Always true.
expression-andexpressionexpressionexpression
The -and operator is the logical AND operator. As it is implied
by the juxtaposition of two expressions it does not have to be
specified. The expression evaluates to true if both expressions
are true. The second expression is not evaluated if the first
expression is false.
expression-orexpression
The -or operator is the logical OR operator. The expression
evaluates to true if either the first or the second expression is
true. The second expression is not evaluated if the first
expression is true.
All operands and primaries must be separate arguments to find. Primaries
which themselves take arguments expect each argument to be a separate
argument to find.
ENVIRONMENT
The LANG, LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES and LC_TIME environ-
ment variables affect the execution of the find utility as described in
environ(7).
EXAMPLES
The following examples are shown as given to the shell:
find / \! -name "*.c" -print
Print out a list of all the files whose names do not end in .c.
find / -newer ttt -user wnj -print
Print out a list of all the files owned by user ``wnj'' that are
newer than the file ttt.
find / \! \( -newer ttt -user wnj \) -print
Print out a list of all the files which are not both newer than
ttt and owned by ``wnj''.
find / \( -newer ttt -or -user wnj \) -print
Print out a list of all the files that are either owned by
``wnj'' or that are newer than ttt.
find / -newerct '1 minute ago' -print
Print out a list of all the files whose inode change time is more
recent than the current time minus one minute.
find / -type f -exec echo {} \;
Use the echo(1) command to print out a list of all the files.
find -L /usr/ports/packages -type l -exec rm -- {} +
Delete all broken symbolic links in /usr/ports/packages.
find /usr/src -name CVS -prune -o -depth +6 -print
Find files and directories that are at least seven levels deep in
the working directory /usr/src.
find /usr/src -name CVS -prune -o -mindepth 7 -print
Is not equivalent to the previous example, since -prune is not
evaluated below level seven.
COMPATIBILITY
The -follow primary is deprecated; the -L option should be used instead.
See the STANDARDS section below for details.
SEE ALSOchflags(1), chmod(1), cvs(1), locate(1), lsvfs(1), whereis(1), which(1),
xargs(1), stat(2), acl(3), fts(3), getgrent(3), getpwent(3), strmode(3),
re_format(7), symlink(7)STANDARDS
The find utility syntax is a superset of the syntax specified by the IEEE
Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'') standard.
All the single character options except -H and -L as well as -amin,
-anewer, -cmin, -cnewer, -delete, -empty, -fstype, -iname, -inum,
-iregex, -ls, -maxdepth, -mindepth, -mmin, -path, -print0, -regex,
-sparse and all of the -B* birthtime related primaries are extensions to
IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').
Historically, the -d, -L and -x options were implemented using the pri-
maries -depth, -follow, and -xdev. These primaries always evaluated to
true. As they were really global variables that took effect before the
traversal began, some legal expressions could have unexpected results.
An example is the expression -print-o-depth. As -print always evalu-
ates to true, the standard order of evaluation implies that -depth would
never be evaluated. This is not the case.
The operator -or was implemented as -o, and the operator -and was imple-
mented as -a.
Historic implementations of the -exec and -ok primaries did not replace
the string ``{}'' in the utility name or the utility arguments if it had
preceding or following non-whitespace characters. This version replaces
it no matter where in the utility name or arguments it appears.
The -E option was inspired by the equivalent grep(1) and sed(1) options.
HISTORY
A find command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.
BUGS
The special characters used by find are also special characters to many
shell programs. In particular, the characters ``*'', ``['', ``]'',
``?'', ``('', ``)'', ``!'', ``\'' and ``;'' may have to be escaped from
the shell.
As there is no delimiter separating options and file names or file names
and the expression, it is difficult to specify files named -xdev or !.
These problems are handled by the -f option and the getopt(3) ``--'' con-
struct.
The -delete primary does not interact well with other options that cause
the file system tree traversal options to be changed.
The -mindepth and -maxdepth primaries are actually global options (as
documented above). They should probably be replaced by options which
look like options.
FreeBSD 11.2 January 24, 2017 FreeBSD 11.2